Premonitions

Companion to the Thread in the Mission Architect Forum

I've been thinking about classifying the Contacts, Storylines, Missions, and other story elements in-game for players who want their characters to do things more their speed. This of course requires me to create some classifications.

The purpose of this is to allow players to create their character snad tailor their play experience more to the type of career they'd want that character to have, instead of the current system of starting out small, and growing in power.

They could start out small time and stay that way, having big wins on their own scale instead of trying to have Daredevil save the world from Cthulu. Conversely they could start out as a massive, world destroying villain/ world Saving Hero and keot it up throughout their career.

Obviously this would facilitate the need for the same classifications in AE as there's little world-shattering content at the early levels, and similarly few small scale content in the end game. This would result in a mix of AE and Dev Content play.

These classifications are designed to address what your character does 70-90% of the time. Since 70-90% of your play experience would be in missions and such, this would apply most directly to mission and TFs/SFs, and mission related content, Contacts, enemy groups, and all of that. Obvious allowances are made for zone events and GIant Monsters as heroes/villains occaisionally step up, down, or to the side of their usual "norm".

Origin:
These would be the origins Set in the game
Natural
Mutant
Science
Technology
Magic

Character scale:
This is where it gets somewhat complicated.

To give an example, let's examine our friendly neighborhood Spider-man

Spider-man would be classified as Crime Fighter scale

Roughly 40% of his Super-Heroing time is spent figting small crime. The other 40% is fighting Small time thugs who happen to have super-powers(Sandman, Shocker, Rhino) Villains who have a specific vendetta against him (Venom) or plain old crazy villains (Green Goblin)

Sure, Spidey occaisionally gets embroiled in Marvel's big- giant, who gives a crap Multi Comic crossover event, but that's an exception, rather than his standard.

And while some of his villains occaisionally get too big for their britches, Doc Ock is a big perpetrator of this, most of them fall into one of the three aformentioned Catagories.


This specifically deals with the type of character you're making, Obviously a low level criminal would'nt be taking over the world, and a hero determined to protect their neighborhood would'nt have the firepower to stop them if they did. So here are the classifications I've devised (so far)

Heroes:

• Cosmic Defender:
  You save the world. All the time. Sometimes you even save the whole universe. It's your specific duty to tackle the big, world threatening problems.
  
  -Examples:
  Superman
  The Justice League
  The Avengers
  Doctor Strange
  Silver Surfer
  Green Lantern
  
  
  
• Crime fighter:
  You fight crime. You're in the trenches, on the streets. You may not stop meteors from smashing into earth, but you help keep earth running every day.
  
  -Examples:
  Daredevil
  Spider-man
  Moon Knight
  Batman(except when he's in the justice league)
  Punisher
  The Question
  
  
  
• Hunter
  You've made it your life's work to attend to what you consider a major threat. Nothing will distract you from taking down your enemy.
  
  -Examples:
  Blade
  Punisher(these can fit multiple characters)
  Hellboy
  
  
  
• Hero For Hire
  You work for a benevolent organization. The pay you rather well to eliminate specific problems and then to go home.
  
  -Examples:
  Luke Cage
  Ironfist
  Misty Knight
  X-men

Villains

• Criminal
  You're a common criminal. You'd be happy having you own gang, maybe a nice little place somewhere with lax extradition laws. you don't need to take over the world.
  
  -Examples:
  Shocker
  Sandman
  Killer Croc
  
  
  
• Super-Villain
  You'll show them. One day the world will be YOURS(or at least the dark gods you serve) Through your evil mcahinations you seek to control everything and reform it in your image
  
  -Examples:
  Doctor Doom
  Lex Luthor
  Baron Mordu
  Moleman
  Magneto
  Dr. Octopus
  
  
  
• Mercenary
  You don't care what the job is, you just want the money.You'll do whatever anyone pays you to do...
  
  -Examples:
  ...any assassin
  Bullseye
  The Enforcers
  
  
  
• Destroyer
  You're crazy. It's hard to put it any clearer. You just want to destroy anything you can. You do everything for the sake of doing it.
  
  -Examples:
  the Joker
  
  
  
• Arch-Nemesis
  You exist purely to make someone else personally miserable. The hate you feel for them burns ith such intensity, it threatens to consume you.
  
  -Examples:
  THE MONARCH!
  Green Goblin
  Lex Luthor (like heroes, villains can fit for multiple roles)

Marketing is a Nemesis Plot, Facilitated by Tyrant in service of Lord Recluse at the advice of Westin Phipps.

My mastermind can hold his own pretty well with fighting, leadership, and concealment, but he's a ninja/traps so...

good bad movies or bad-bad movies?
*switches to power rangers for no good reason*

I'd like to say that I'm saying all of this as a guy who put two of the bow attacks, All of fighting, stealth, and , Manuevers on my Nin/Traps MM and go hunting with no pets out just to be a bad-***. And can do pretty decent in melee(sorta, still an MM though, BUFF THOSE RANGED ATTACK DEVS!) I'm not saying anyone HAS to play a certain way, it's just the iconography of the MMs as defined by the fact that they have other people to handle the brunt of their problems for them.

And none of these ideas lessen that at all, it just gives them a different look, and most of the time only slightly different. As for the "we all want wands" thing, that was less specifically at masterminds, and more generally as "I think we can all agree the option to fire ranged/buff/control sets from varying items(i.e. wands) would be hella awesome" I'll do something more detailed later, as I'm on a library computer and have limited time, but I'll throw up some alternative suggestions. As for the movement powers, I think I have a fix for the need to have super jump in combat.

If I just got the auras we HAVE but enabled as combat auras, I'd be a happy, happy camper.

Definitely enforcer 1, I beleive. Glad I'm not the only one who thought it was a metal bikini! :P

Basically this is an attempt to put more style and uniqueness( and no "henchman ARE unique" please) in our Masterminds
First suggestion

Weapons:

With Dual Pistols coming up, Thugs Masterminds just lost all their shine. Not only are several ATs getting what was once their own bit of cool, but they're going to be doing it cooler as well. Merc, Ninja, And Necro Henchies never had any style of their own as far as weapons go, using weapons and powers everybody already had.

Soon the only MMS with cool exclusive weapons will be Robotics(Laser Pulse Rifles) and Demon Summoning(whips) My suggestion is to re-vamp the weapons and range powers used by Masterminds. To make them more unique. So heeeeeere we go!

Thugs: This suggestion is kinda odd, but hear me out.
Take away one of their guns. And Leave them with a single side-arm. All three Current MM attacks are fully feasable with one gun as much as two.

The iconagraphy here is actually pretty cool when you think about it..
Compare the current set-up. Your Thugs MM fights exactly on the level of the rest of your henchman, using two guns at once, and being in the midst of things.

With one gun, he seems more of a leader, more of a Criminal Mastermind. Giving orders and putting one in the eyes of any stragglers he sees.Furthermore, he does'nt feel at risk, so he comes in lightly armed.

Necromancy: Take away the regular Darkness Blasts and replace them with blast fired from a wand, scepter, or staff.. We all want wands for controll or blast sets, and it may or may not happen in the future. But For NOW( and probably the forseeable future) it would be fantastic if necro MMS weilded wands roughly the length of your forearm.

The Imagery here is obvious. When I see a swarm of zombies coming towards me, I'm looking in the back for the guy with the magic staff/wand, cause I know he's the guy in charge.

It's possible(read: extremely likely) that we'd loose color customization of the blasts (but not the other powers) but it'd be trading one form of customization for another one that makes your MM look like less of a Dark Defender.

Ninja: I've made this claim before.
Ninja MMs should get the wrist-mounted dart launcher that upgraded jounin get.
I used to think that shuriken would be ideal, but, think about your ninja henchman for a minute. Who uses shuriken? Genin, the new guys, silly gray cotumes, youthful faces. They're the expendables, the one's who you don't even trust with swords or ninja tricks. no, the Nobodies get the plain old shuriken. The Elite, they get caltrops, swords, Smokebombs, and, the more dangerous and effective Poison Dart guns(even if we nja MMS sometimes hate when they use it improperly) It identifies you with your elite, and not just any old ninja. It also still shares some visual elements with the bow currently being used.

Mercenaries: Mercs... ahhh Mercs. what are we lacking right now in terms of heavy guns? Muskets. Rifles. Classic war rifles. Revolver Chambered Rifles. Shotguns. more exaggerated sniper-type rifles. Why? they can't do all of the things the AR sets can do, granted MOST of the weapons in those sets can't either, but they possibly could. The idea behind this being. You're the brains of the operation. You don't go in with guns blazing. You hang back, and let your well paid soldiers do what they do. Your weapon is one of precision. and Power. the weapon of a thinking villain.

and those are my suggestions for changing the weaponry of Masterminds

on to my second idea.

Henchman Travel Powers.
Currently, all henchman come with superjump equipped to keep up with their Mastermind no matter where they go. Would'nt it be much cooler if they all had their own way of getting around? you know it would
The idea here, is If Your henchman are a certain dsitance away from their target destination,( or you as your mastermind is the target Destination when the henchman are set to follow) Their AI would toggle on a travel power unique to each of them, until they made it close enough to their target location, at which point they would untoggle it and walk normally.
and here's how

Ninja: no brainer, let them use ninja-run, possibly maxed out. The oni should still appear and dissapear in a flash fo fire, as he currently does.

Zombie: Super Jump is the only way I could see them actually gettig around, possibly with a unique jumping and landing animation cycle. With the exception of the Lich who should teleport in a dark portal similar to his summoning animation

Robots: Robots would fly using their already existing Rocket boots.

Mercenaries: Mercs would teleport, but their animation would be them repelling back into the(invisible, assumed) chopper they were dropped from when summoned. So it looks like they are being airlifted/dropped everywhere

Thugs: Thugs would activate a power with similar specs to ninja run, but instead of running they'd hop on the motorcycles Bruisers use to be summoned and cruise to the location.

ideas? yes? no? absolutely impossible?
Discuss.

Considering that thing shoots flames, napalm, bullets, beanbags, grenades, and more bullets, yeah, that's a tech rifle.

Yes, but considering they all look the same, I'd imagine one genius super scientist has the patent on them, whilst there's buttloads of differnet Assault rifles. Thus they''re exotic, even if lots of peple use them.

My rules are if it breaks more than three laws of accepted physics, it's tech.
If it does'nt exist in the real world, it's tech
If it let's you use any non-weapon based powerset in this game, it's tech.
If it's conneced to your flesh, tech.
Also, Guns and swords don't require training to use? wel yeah, they don't require training to pick up and swing/fire, but they recquire training to use to any decent effect that's not "shoot myself in the goodies"

but only of electric sheep....

Can I get one wit new Marauder? please?

*hides his japanese school girls*
Dude, that's really insensitive!

Mario Blanc hummed happily in the backseat of his parent's car. His head was sore as all get out, but just like always, he couldn't help poking his new braids. He didn't understand it, his cousin must have something out for him, the girl definitely tried to draw blood every time she laid hands on his head. He stopped his idle act of self torture long enough to drum his fingers loudly on the shiny metal briefcase holding his Vibro-gauntlets. Today was a sad day for his parents, but a good one for him.

Mario leaned back and thought about the weeks before.

Two Weeks ago, The Blanc's Apartment in Galaxy City:

“Ma I've got super-powers now! There's nothing else I CAN do but be a super-hero!”

His mother was screaming at the top of her lungs, and her cafe-au lait face was bright red, her French Quarter accent was slipping.

“ BOY you ain't got no DAMN powers! You got them shaker- gloves you stole from that po' man down the street, and-”

Mario Jumped in

“NO! Remember! Those doctors did that stuff! I'm “slightly past Peak human!”

the last part of that sentence said with all the enthusiasm it certainly didn't deserve. She twisted up her mouth and turned to his father who was statuesque in his silence. Mario looked up with hope, just at the top of his box hair cut, like he always did. Mario's hope was legendarily infectious.

“Right dad? Tell her!”

he turned back to his mother

”That means I'm better than everybody at everything!... I think, I know I'm faster than

everybody at school now!”
The stone-faced man snorted, his nostrils flaring

“ yeah, that mean the boy's barely super-powered....”

Mario's joy radiated from him and almost lit up the room-

“...because he tortured those scientists until they performed illegal and DANGEROUS.STUPID. EXPERIMENTS ON HIM!”

This joy dipped slightly, but not enough.
“ That's not fair, when Kiara plays that stuff all day, you won't believe ME when I call it torture!”

Mr. Blanc's hard face twitched into a smile. In her room, Kiara was hollering something unintelligible and probably obscene. Mr. Blanc Couldn't help but chuckle at that. But Mrs. Blanc was'nt having it

“Boy! You left this house wit' a radio, a Tent, A sleeping bag, and a baseball bat. now what in the hell did you do with that bat?”

Mario smiled and lowered his head

“Well, these Crey guys showed up, saying it was their formula But IT's OKAY! See, there were other heroes there! I got to help a bit,and that's what happened to the bat by the way, and then I went back to the plan! Only took a day, so it's all good! And Like I was saying, I was doing my thing, out there, on the streets, when one of the cops told me I had to be registered, and-and, like, I could'nt be registered until I had proper training. This school, is just for training supers, and it's full of superheroes! Isn't that awesome!?”

He grinned so wide Mr. Blanc was quite sure his face would crack in half and fly apart. Mrs. Blanc just sighed. “dammit boy” Her husband just chuckled and put his arms around her. He looked to his beaming son with a knowing smile

“Why do I feel like this is all just some complicated plan to get out of normal school?” Mario already knew what that meant.

Last Week, Dr. Hama's Home workshop:

The sounds of the latest bubblegum pop/R&B girl duo blared through the Hall's of the D.A.T.A. Technician's humble home. It had been doing that for the last day and a half. So to, had this lovely exchange:
“Please?”
“NO!”
“Pleeeeeeaaaasase?”
“NO!”
“PLLLEEEEEEAAAASSE?”
“DAMMIT, NO! MARIO!”

The brown-skinned boy leaning on the counter grinned sheepishly “Gawd, Mr-” the tall Asian man snarled “DR.!”
Mario Grinned wider “Dr. Hama, you let me take them out ever since I got my powers.”
Dr. Hama rubbed his temples

“yes, and I've regretted it every day since then, but I'm not going to let you have them permanently, you're fifteen”

Mario Shrugged and shook his head
“Welll, that's too bad, I mean, it's not like I'm going to a training ground for next generation's heroes, where recruiters from all the big organizations come, you know, to recruit n'stuff. But hey, I guess you're right, Better to try and ship your patent around the old fashioned way, right? And hey, until then, YOU can use it to help people”

If the poor boy had been privy to the technician's private thoughts, he might have recognized some of his older sister's favorite words. Dr. Hama simply gritted his teeth and said “I'll.... have to... make.... a secure... case.... for them..” Mario smiled his massive smile.

Outside Golden Eagle High School, now:
Mario stopped tapping out a beat on his shiny, fancy, Secure briefcase. And sat forwards as the high gate of the school came into view. His mother and father had been very quiet the whole trip there. But as Dad helped him gather all his bags his mom called out to him.

“You Watch out for dem mutants honey... and those Aliens, the Vanguard said they're dangerous, but I know they got some alien heroes.”
Mario smiled his big, big, smile.

“It's cool, mom. I'm a superhero!”

They had already met the principle earlier that week, so he just needed to settle in before the next semester started.
He hustled off to his dorm to drop off his things, He didn't waste time look at his roommate's stuff, he heard there was a party going on!

Mario busted in the door like a raiding police officer
“HI GUYS! Rumble's HERE! Where's the party?!”

Character
Real name: Mario Blanc
Hero Name: Rumble
Age: 15
Appearance: About 5'6 Medium Dark brown skin, always smiling. hair about shoulder length, usually worn in tight, crisscross design cornrows.
Costume:

Personality: Rumble is best described as "insufferably optimistic" Rumble has Fierce and driving belief in the power of the human spirit and the wonder of Super Heroics.
ArchetypeScrapper(tanker in-game)
Origin:Science/Tech
Powers/equipment: In game, Willpower/Energy Melee Tinted white-ish beige for subtlety.
Peak Human Physicality: Rumble's body has been chemically enhanced to just past the maximum of human capability(Captain America style), this puts him far enough beyond normal ability to be classified as super human. He also has a slightly higher than normal resistance to damage as well as a mildly accelerated healing factor, what may take some weeks to heal may only take him days. With proper and swift medical attention he can recover from things fatal to most normal humans
Vibro-Gauntlets: Rumble's Gauntlets vibrate the air around them at an amazingly powerful rate and frequency, causing massive damage to anything they touch, and sendiing it flying, or shaking it to peices. The feedback from the vibrations would crush the bones of any normal human, or anyone with similar resistance, if they used ithem.